For the past two years, Minnesota has been my cold home, and I have enjoyed the journey. I also want to give a HUGE shout-out to (Director of Athletic Medicine) Moira Novak, for putting up with me for two years! J And I can't forget our fans, who have supported us through the wins and the losses. To my teammates, who have stood by me like family, thank you is not enough!! For my coaches, who gave me the opportunity to become part of tradition. So I say thank you to my family, for always being my #1 fan. I have fought through ups and downs, which I never let stunt my growth, with the help of my family whom never let me fail. Here is where I was challenged by my coaches to achieve more than greatness. Here is where I have hurdled obstacles that influenced my growth as an individual. Here I will leave with lifelong friends that I have grown to love through the good and the bad. Here, I have excelled in academics, and will graduate with a degree in Recreation and Management. of Minnesota, where I have achieved excellence in more ways than one. I had no idea that all my sacrifices and adversities would lead me to the Univ. I did not expect to leave my mark in Minnesota. What I did not envision were the experiences, and the people who I would share them with. I had a vision of success and excellence. What I did not know was how, or where, I would end up. Growing up, I had aspirations of playing basketball for an elite program, and I decided to do whatever it took to make it there. Here are their essays, which ran in today's Minnesota Basketball Game Program. Off the court, Antoine and Dockery recently took some time to reflect on their careers, and to express thanks to those who have impacted them along the way. On the court, Antoine finished with five assists, three steals, three points, and a pair of assists, while Dockery grabbed two rebounds for the Gophers. But today was a day to honor Minnesota's seniors, a grou that also includes athletic medicine intern Rachel Johnsrud and student managers Jessica Lemanski and Emily Oberlander. “I just hope that I’ve impacted their lives as much as they’ve impacted mine because I feel so much richer because of them.Note: Minnesota's two senior players, China Antoine and Kristen Dockery, played what will likely be their final game at Williams Arena on Sunday, as the Gophers dropped a 65-51 decision versus #8/10 Michigan State. “It’s always been about the relationships for me,” Frese said. Instead, she talked about the people who have been on the journey with her - some who were in the crowd and many who were applauding from afar. It was the kind of season that could define her tenure at Maryland, which includes 14 conference championships, 17 NCAA tournament appearances, nine Sweet Sixteens and six Elite Eights, among other accolades.īut those accomplishments aren’t what Frese focused on as she wrapped up her speech. She coached her squad to a 26-3 record, securing Big Ten regular season and tournament titles along the way. Last season may have been the finest coaching performance of Frese’s already-excellent career.ĭespite coaching a young and inexperienced team through a pandemic, Frese was unfettered. “When I first got here I just hoped that I was good enough … I hoped that I would be able to get a contract extension.” Nineteen years later and with six years left on her contract, Frese hopes to retire as a Terp. Her basketball journey brought her to College Park, a place she never saw herself staying. “I got to travel to places like Italy and Paris and Prague … I got to experience the world.” I’m not sure where my parents were going to pay … so the scholarship made that happen,” Frese said. Two starters on that team, Laura Harper and Crystal Langhorne, were in attendance for Frese’s induction.įrese’s father, Bill, always told her that basketball would change her life and that the sport and her passion for it would allow her to do great things. Just four years later, it was the coach’s time to shine, as she stood in Boston with a net around her neck after defeating Duke in the National Championship game. In Frese’s first season, her team was blown out at Duke by 51 points. She looked back to her first year at Maryland, when she was hired in the wake of the men’s national title in 2002, and she remembered having much more modest goals then. “Never did I think … this little girl from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, growing up and falling in love with this game, that I’d be standing here in the most powerful city in the world in front of all of you to receive such a tremendous recognition,” Frese said. Her heart was on full display as she spoke and reflected on her journey from a basketball-obsessed kid in middle America, to a Hall of Famer in the DC-Maryland-Virginia region.
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